Apologies.........dead technology!!!!

Hi guys! I am so sorry for the radio silence, our laptop decided to die and leave us in a technological abyss! It has been truly horrible. Thank goodness for my phone upgrade last month to something with a decent connection. I have to admit it. I need my internet!!

I have, however, been super busy and creative! I have made costumes for my two girls - a red bird and a blue bird - and one for me - a hedgehog. I have also whipped up a crochet owl hat for Beanie, all but finished my stockings and made a dress for Beanie. I am really excited about this last one. I bought a book full of fantastic patterns for clothes for the girls but I had never worked from a pattern before. So, I managed to find a pattern for a girls 70's tunic in a charity shop and I made it using a duvet cover from the bargain bin at Ikea. I even had to put in a zip!! Can I admit to doing a little victory dance when it was done? Cool!

Will post pics when I get the chance.

Night!

Busy, busy, busy!

How-de-doo peeps!

Gosh, it's amazing how all the little things creep up on you and you end up a week later wondering where the time has gone! I have managed to make my two their Halloween costumes, been to a school disco, started on my Hedgehog costume, playgroup, an ice cream farm visit......Blimey!

I took some pics while doing the girls costumes so I will get them on here soon. Very easy to do, inspired by some I'd seen on Pinterest. I liked the idea of them not being scary and the shop ones all looked a bit too gory for a 4 and 2 year old to be wearing. Also, I really liked the idea of making theirs myself.

Well, need to sign off and go and put some clothes away. Just wanted to pop by and say hello!

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest, http://www.pinterest.com/camperknitter/boards/

XxXx

My First Tutorial!! *Blush*

Wow! Bit of a big moment this!

I've been making Christmas Stockings as presents for our immediate family and I suddenly thought it would be great to show off how I did it. I never do things the easy way if there's a harder path so I kinda had to wing it a bit. I was really lucky enough to get hold of 10 squares of material at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. There is a lady who runs a stall there and she sells old sari and scarf materials and she was selling these squares off at 5 for a fiver. So I had two! At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with them but they were so beautiful and different.

Once I had hit on the idea for Stockings I started trawling Pinterest. Wow. There are a lot of fancy and not so fancy stockings out there! I had a rough idea of what I wanted and this is how I did it!

Ok, so when I got the material it had that gold border along 3 sides. I carefully unpicked and trimmed the excess off and saved it in my stash/notions box. As you can see, this one is a lovely sequinned piece. Then I made a template for the stocking shape. I had to do this for each Stocking individually as they were all different sizes (d'oh!). So when you have you shape place it on the wrong side of your fabric like this:

 Excuse Pumpkins' hand in there! For some of the other Stockings I had to have a seperate toe template and cut it out of the bit in the middle at the bottom, if you see what I mean. So, now you use this template to also cut out your batting to pad the Stocking out. When you've got all three things cut out and pinned together it should look like this:

 Pumpkin is determined to 'help'! Ok, so from the bottom, Stocking material wrong side up, batting, then lining right side up.

 Here you can just about see where I've had to cut a seperate toe and have joined them together. I will just stitch this together as a seam. Once you've done that, fold it in half right side to right side, with the lining uppermost, and stitch together! I just used a three point zig-zag stitch to give it lots of strength.

 Here's one with an extra toe. I quite like the rustic joining on this one.

Here's one that I 'disguised' with some edging from another square. I pinned these in place under the batting before stitching all the way round to keep them secure.

When I've finished all the Stockings I'll show you.

Wow! Hope that's ok for you to follow and makes sense!? Ask questions if it isn't.

XxXx

Poorly again......And a craft update!

Hello All!!

It's a bit worrying that nearly half my posts are when Pumpkin is poorly! She is not generally a sickly child, but I am loving listening to Mozart lullabies whilst I type! She has a horrid rattly cough so into bed with Mummy it is. The really irritating thing is she was getting better at sleeping in her bed before this too.Oh well.

I have cut out all the stockings!! Hurrah! Just need to cut out the batting for 2 and then stitch the last 4 together.I must remember to take some pics to show you as I do the last ones. I have also, randomly, starting making a tunic for Beanie. I have purchased a book with some fantastic kids clothes in, complete with paper patterns. Now this is an area I have not yet delved into, so I picked up a cheap 70's style kids tunic pattern at a charity shop to try out first. The pattern pieces were already cut out so I hope it will fit her! If not, it'll be there when she's big enough.

I am also going to have a bash at some Halloween costumes this year. I shall be a hedgehog, the girls will be birds and Hubby wants to be the Staypuft Marshmallow Man. Should make for an interesting family photo!

Night
XxXx

Bedtime ramblings......and a new skill!!!!

Hey all.

I really should be asleep by now. Am trying a new health kick and should be trying to get a decent nights' kip. Oh well. I've started my 30 day Shred again and I'm kicking in FLYlady too, so by the time November comes around me and my house should kick some butt!

I am not a naturally tidy person. I am a lazy, sloth-like creature, but bizarrely since Beanie started school I've really been attacking the house and all its little messes. Things like cleaning the windows and window frames or tidying Pumpkins dresser. It's really odd, but lovely to see my home emerge underneath it all.

I have also been quite crafty today! I have finished stitching 2 of the stockings, so that makes 3 stitched, 1 pinned, and 4 to start. I really want these done by the end of the month so I'm not fretting about family pressies.

I also had a bash at reverse applique and it blinking well worked!!! OK, so the pattern is a little bit wonky, but you can definitely tell it's Mickey Mouses head!!! Pumpkin spent the whole time I was stitching it trying to get her hands on it so it passed her test! Can't wait to try it on something else. I love the idea of a t-shirt for Mr, all 'ripped' with the VW logo underneath........

Just need to find the material!

Night all.
XxXx

Poorly Pumpkin

  Well, as I type, I have sleeping poorly Pumpkin giving me pins and needles in my arm and making me thankful that I can near enough touch type one-handed. She has an unknown malady that will no doubt have disappeared by morning, but has put a serious dink in my evening plans. Oh well, the joys of kids, eh?

  I have nearly completed three of my amazing Christmas stocking presents for my lovely family. When I told my brother I was breaking our 'no presents for grown-ups' rule his reply was that he didn't want a knitted loo roll cover. I now need to desperately find one of those awful kitsch 1970's pink fluffy doll things to give to him. I shall try and get some pics up of my stockings and maybe even a tutorial, for in my vanity I live int he hope that someday, some-one will read this and want to make them too!

I am also scouring Pintrest at the moment looking at lovely cot bumpers and quilts. My lovely cousin an his wife are expecting and they have very little spare money so everyone is very much chipping in and helping out. It is lovely to see how all the family pulls together. Not that I would expect anything less from our large family, but it's still nice to see.

Well, Pumpkin is snuffling again and I've just realised my breakfast muffins are still in the freezer. Never mind, they'll defrost in the toaster, right?!

First pics!

Well, that was a bit of a pause, wasn't it?

Life has a great tendency of getting in the way, doesn't it? I am attempting to throw myself into village life with both feet. I already run a Beaver Colony in the nearby town, but I realised that I know very few of my neighbours. Now that Beanie has started Pre-school at the village school I am determined to get involved in the whole shebang! I have a PTA meeting this week, school photos, Harvest Festival at Church and a coffee morning as well as Beanies first play date! I've even been looking at the WI, although there isn't one in the village so maybe it needs setting up.....

I have managed to take a couple of pics of my creations for you! Aren't you lucky! ;)

This is a bag I knitted from a silly ruffled yarn ball that my mate gave me. It came with a scarf pattern but I thought it would scratch the heck out of me if I did that so I made a bag instead. I lined it with some fleece and crochet chained the strap. It reminds me of a brain coral!

This is one of the first things I made on my machine. A dress for Beanie. This material features in nearly everything I have made! It was bought for our Campervan and has been amazing to work with. I'd love to say that this swirly skirt was what I was going for, but it was actually a lovely mistake. I tried following the pattern and basically bodged my measuring! Made it into a lovely handkerchief skirt instead so a happy accident.

This is a pillowcase dress I made for Pumpkin! I think everyone has to make one of these at some point, don't they? Love the pocket, it was a great inspiration as it was the underarm material! The ribbon around the bottom hides the stitching for the netting. Basic but lovely!

Will post some more pics next time, got to go get Beanie from school....and find that WI form!!!

XxXx

Welcome Ramblings!

Well! Hello!

I don't know how much use this will be to anyone other than a place for me to ramble and show off my makes, but my best mate has wittered on at me to start one! I'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to crafts, I like cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, sewing and stitching. I've not long had a sewing machine and I can't wait to get going on a quilt. My lovely cousins have just announced they are expecting so brace yourselves for a whole rash of baby stuff.


My plan is to use this as a record of my makes before they disappear into the ether of where they belong. I have a backlog of stuff to photo, will try and get that done tonight.


Bit about me? 30-something mother of two rather scrummy girls, Beanie (4) and Pumpkin (2). Hubby is (mostly) fabulous and has a most amazing T4 camper van which he has essential fitted out from scratch an bodge. It is an amazing part of our family and takes up about the same amount of  my craft time as the kids! It's got to the point where I combine the two and yesterday whipped up a cracking scarf for Beanie whilst we had a jolly to Blackpool!


Well, got to go and pick Beanie up from school, will post some pics later.

Well done for sticking this far!

KT
xxx